Bronchoscopy Safety Box and its Utility as a Barrier in Spread of COVID-19 Infection

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions with a high mortality rate. Thousands of frontline health-care workers (HCWs) have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Protecting HCWs is important. Aim: We sought to develop an innovative barrier to prevent COVID-19 virus transmission while performing bronchoscopy and endotracheal intubation. Settings and Design: We have designed and developed a barrier called bronchoscopy safety box (BSB). Materials and Methods: BSB is made up of acrylic and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets. We have designed two prototypes of BSBs, namely Prototype 1 and Prototype 2. We performed bronchoscopy procedures and intubation procedures with BSBs. Advantages and limitations were noted and analyzed. Results: The advantages of BSB include the additional presence of the bronchoscopy aperture and an assistant aperture. All the apertures are covered by PVC sheets or hand gloves, thus minimizing risk of aerosol coming out of these apertures. The presence of PVC sheet fixed at the patient's end restricts the amount of aerosol coming out while the presence of a negative suction port is important in reducing the aerosol content inside the BSB. The BSB is a multi-utility box which can be used by clinicians for endotracheal intubation or bronchoscopy as the need arises. The BSB can be effectively used for the treatment of suspected as well as confirmed COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: We conclude that the BSB is a reusable, multipurpose aerosol safety barrier which can be utilized for multiple procedures of bronchoscopy as well as intubation to help protect HCWs against COVID-19.